Baidu, Inc. and Bosch Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement today in the areas of automated driving, smart mobility, and connected cars. Dr. Qi Lu, Baidu Group President and Chief Operating Officer, and Dr. Dirk Hoheisel, member of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH attended the signing ceremony, which was also witnessed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Leveraging each other's competitive advantages in automotive components and internet technology, Baidu and Bosch will explore and practice business models, accelerate the commercialization of technologies, and provide comprehensive and reliable system solutions to smart transportation.

"Developing automated driving and intelligent cars is a vast collaborative endeavor that requires tremendous efforts from all participants to advance the industry. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is Baidu's core competency, and Bosch is a leading technology and service provider. Working together, the two companies will upgrade the intelligent systems of the automotive industry and create an entire new ecosystem for intelligent and automated cars," stated Dr. Qi Lu.

Baidu has built up expertise in cloud computing, big data, AI and location-based services -- all critical for automated driving -- through years of investment in research and development of technology. Baidu's core technologies for automated driving include environment perception, behavioral prediction, planning and control, on-vehicle hardware, human-machine interaction, localization, and high definition maps. Baidu has introduced a full set of software solutions for automated driving, connected cars, and big data services for automobiles. The company also recently announced a plan to provide its partners with open, comprehensive software, hardware, and service solutions required for automated driving. As a world-leading technology and service provider, Bosch has been working on the development of automated driving since 2011. Today, some 3,000 Bosch engineers are working on automated driving worldwide.

In the future, Bosch will actively engage in Baidu's Apollo Project, an open platform for automated driving, by providing sensors, hardware components and the "Bosch Road Signature" for vehicle localization.

Dr. Hoheisel said of the cooperation with Baidu, "China is the biggest automotive market in the world, and also among the leading countries worldwide in the development of the internet of things (IoT) and AI. We are pleased to have the opportunity to cooperate strategically with Baidu in this way. Combining the know-how of a high-tech internet corporation with our expertise as the world's biggest automotive supplier, the alliance will promote the development of smart mobility in China."

The strategic cooperation will leverage leading AI technology from China and world-class German automobile technology experience to promote technological innovation and further establish a business ecosystem for automated driving, intelligent cars and smart mobility.

The in-depth cooperation between Baidu and Bosch will give the Chinese automotive industry a voice in the development of core technologies of automated driving, including obstacle detection, cooperative control and intelligent decision-making. Earlier on June 1, Baidu announced it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with German automotive technology company Continental around the applications of AI in automated driving. In the future, Baidu will work with more manufacturers to explore new cooperative models and develop a business ecosystem for automated driving and intelligent automobiles.